Equip caregivers with lifesaving skills

We refer to the letter “Teach maids life-saving skills” (7 January) by Ms Lim Lih Mei.

As Ms Lim rightly noted, it is important that family members and caregivers are equipped with life saving skills, such as performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation or using automated external defibrillators, especially in households with vulnerable or elderly persons.

In an emergency, the first few minutes are critical to saving a person’s life - every minute delay in providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) decreases one’s survival rate by up to 10%. 

At the Singapore Red Cross (SRC), we are dedicated to the national goal of having a first aider in every home. As much as we are served well by a comprehensive network of clinics and hospitals, knowing first aid can save lives and mitigate emergencies. When a person is first aid trained, it allows him/her to intervene at the most critical moments, often making the difference between life and death. 

To this end, the SRC Academy has been the forerunner of first aid training since the 1960s, and continues to innovate first aid training, and to enable first aid learning for everyone, everywhere. Besides Standard First Aid, we have introduced a suite of courses tailored for specific needs over the years. These include the Occupational First Aid for people at workplaces; Infant/Child First Aid for parents, caregivers and teachers; first aid training for the caregivers of the elderly, stroke and diabetic patients; as well as the nation's first certifiable Citizen First Responder training programme to increase bystander first response in our community.

To commemorate National Life Saving Day this month, the SRC Academy is offering Basic First Aid and CPR & AED classes at promotional rates. The Academy also runs regular CPR + AED Awareness Workshops that are complimentary for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. These 2-hour workshops cover the basics of CPR and AED, as well as how to manage medical emergencies.

Learning life saving skills, including first aid & CPR, is critical to building a resilient and secure Singapore. With more trained first aiders in homes and within the community, timely first aid can be given to the family, neighbours, colleagues or those in one’s neighbourhood, before ambulance help arrives.

Sahari Ani - Dean, Singapore Red Cross Academy